Okanagan elections bring new mayors and tight races across the valley
Kari Gares led the Vernon mayoral race in the October 17 municipal election.
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City of Vernon
VERNON — Voters across the Okanagan elected new mayors in several communities on October 17, unseating incumbents in Vernon, Armstrong, Enderby and Penticton, while preliminary results showed narrow contests in Lake Country and Peachland.
The closest mayoral races were in the Central Okanagan, where MaryEllen Buhler led by just 12 votes in Lake Country and Gail Mansell held a 20-vote lead in Peachland. Both results remained preliminary in the election records reviewed, while several other municipalities had officially declared their winners.
In Vernon, councillor Kari Gares received 4,284 votes, ahead of former mayor Wayne Lippert with 3,200 and incumbent Mayor Victor Cumming with 2,903. Cumming had served as mayor since 2018.
David Scarlatescu led the Vernon council vote, followed by Barry Dorval, Dawn Tucker, Teresa Durning, Kelly Fehr and Rob Sawatzky.
In Armstrong, former mayor Chris Pieper led the preliminary results with 726 votes, ahead of John Trainor with 469 and incumbent Mayor Joe Cramer with 222.
Neighbouring Enderby also elected a new mayor. Councillor Roxanne Davyduke defeated incumbent Huck Galbraith, receiving 536 votes to Galbraith's 184. The city officially declared Davyduke elected October 20, along with councillors Sarah Yerhoff, Shawn Shishido, Tundra Baird, David Lancaster, Greg McCune and Ryan Sheepwash.
In Lumby, Kevin Acton was officially declared elected mayor with 443 votes, ahead of Brad Weston with 147. The village's four councillors were elected by acclamation.
The Regional District of North Okanagan declared its election results official October 19. Bob Fleming won Area B with 368 votes, Rachel Enns won Area C with 524, Wendy Sherman won Area D with 421 and Lori Heins won Area F with 628. Jim Johnson was acclaimed in Area E.
Enns defeated incumbent Area C director Amanda Shatzko, who received 266 votes, while Heins defeated incumbent Area F director Allysa Hopkins, who received 162.
Close mayoral contests in Central Okanagan
Lake Country's unofficial results put MaryEllen Buhler ahead with 1,441 votes, just 12 more than Priscila Brunetto's 1,429. Incumbent Mayor Blair Ireland finished third with 1,339.
The district reported 4,220 ballots cast, representing estimated turnout of 30 per cent, compared with 16 per cent in the 2022 municipal election.
Michael Lewis and Bib Patel led the two councillor-at-large positions, while Ian Scromeda, Tricia Brett, Todd McKenzie and Heather Irvine led the district's four ward contests.
In Peachland, Gail Mansell received 1,092 votes to incumbent Mayor Patrick Van Minsel's 1,072, a preliminary margin of 20 votes.
Randey Brophy, Rick Ingram, Ali Bani-Sadr, Ashley Rodenbush, Marissa Baecker and Alena Glasman led the six council positions.
Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas led his re-election contest with 19,451 votes, ahead of former Conservative MP Ron Cannan with 18,482. Andrew Uitvlugt received 556.
Gord Lovegrove topped Kelowna's council vote, followed by Davis Kyle, Kevin Aaron Kraft, Brady Rogers, Rick Webber, Mohini Singh, Laura Thurnheer and Les Bellamy. The city reported 38,970 ballots cast and estimated voter turnout of 31 per cent.
In West Kelowna, Stephen Johnston was elected mayor by acclamation. Tom Groat, Garrett Millsap, Rick de Jong, Tasha Da Silva, Justin Chapman and Chris Moyer led the council results.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan officially declared Kevin Kraft elected director for Electoral Area East with 446 votes, defeating Christine LeGuilloux, who received 168.
Wayne Carson won Electoral Area West with 313 votes, ahead of Steven Gilroy with 134 and Ron Dewhurst with 29.
Dewhurst had sought to withdraw after the statutory deadline. The regional district announced October 13 that his name would remain on the ballot unless the province directed otherwise. He remained listed as a candidate in the official results.
Ashton returns as Penticton mayor
In Penticton, former mayor Dan Ashton defeated incumbent Julius Bloomfield, receiving 4,477 votes to Bloomfield's 2,457. Jordan Iannone finished third with 2,098.
The city officially declared the results October 21, confirming Ashton as mayor and Jason Reynen, Riley Thompson, Shannon Stewart, Andrew Jakubeit, Isaac Gilbert and Subrina Monteith as councillors.
In Osoyoos, preliminary results put Dustin Sikora ahead in the six-candidate mayoral contest to succeed outgoing Mayor Sue McKortoff.
In Oliver, Wayne Anderson was officially declared elected mayor on October 20. Dermott Hutton, Tom Szalay, Warren Brown and JP Vala were elected to council, while Bhupinder Dhaliwal and Rick Machial were elected water councillors, according to the town's signed declaration.
Okanagan Falls elects first council
Residents of Okanagan Falls elected their first mayor and council following the community's incorporation as a district municipality.
Matt Taylor received 780 votes in the inaugural mayoral contest, ahead of Tyler Johnsen with 312 and Glen Innes with 106, according to preliminary results released by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
Amy Bydal led the council election with 698 votes, followed by Allison Symons with 596, Randy Ludwar with 563 and Eugene Dettling with 507.
The regional district reported 1,207 valid votes cast in the inaugural election.
The RDOS also released preliminary results for several electoral area director contests, with Mark Pendergraft leading in Rural Osoyoos, Rob Bilyk in Naramata, John Rousseau in Area F and Henry Sielmann in Area I.
Mark Mattes was elected by acclamation in Electoral Area C, Rural Oliver, while Kandis Lipsett was acclaimed in Electoral Area D, which includes rural communities around Skaha Lake.
Election results from the neighbouring Similkameen region are outside the scope of this report.
Several local election authorities have issued official declarations following the October 17 vote. Results still identified as preliminary remain subject to confirmation through their respective chief election officers' final determinations.
The federal government is renewing $30 million in funding for a national loan program that helps women start or expand businesses, with loans of up to $50,000 available through participating nonprofit organizations.